Every year, the IBF Business Planning, Forecasting & S&OP/IBP Best Practices Conference feels less like a conference and more like a reunion, one where the brightest minds in supply chain planning gather to share what’s working, what’s changing and what keeps them up at night.
This year in Orlando was no different. Between the breakout sessions, hallway conversations, and coffee-fueled debates, a few clear themes emerged and they’re reshaping how organizations think about planning.
Theme 1: The Shift from Forecasting to Foresight
One recurring topic across sessions and side conversations was how forecasting is no longer enough. Most planners aren’t struggling because they can’t produce a forecast. It’s because the business can’t adapt fast enough when the forecast inevitably shifts.
Leaders are realizing that resilience isn’t about having a perfect number; it’s about creating a system that can flex when the number changes.
That means moving from static models to connected, responsive planning where data, people, and systems all work together in real time.
That’s the kind of foresight Arkieva helps not just predict demand but enables the agility to act on it quickly.
Theme 2: Aligning Across the Business, Not Just the Plan
Many conversations circled around cross-functional alignment, but not the kind that lives in PowerPoint decks. Real alignment, the kind that keeps supply, finance, and commercial teams moving in sync, comes from decisions that flow across functions with context and transparency.
Executives are increasingly asking:
“How can we make sure what we commit to in S&OP actually shows up on the production floor?”
That’s not a meeting problem; it’s a process orchestration problem. Tools that bring visibility across time horizons and functions are becoming essential to turn planning into performance.
Arkieva’s approach to integrated planning is designed for exactly that: helping organizations connect strategy to execution through shared data, automated workflows, and transparency that turns alignment into action.
Theme 3: The Reality of AI and Automation
Yes, AI was everywhere, but so was skepticism.
While some vendors made it sound like machine learning can solve every problem, most leaders we spoke with were far more pragmatic. They’re not chasing hype; they’re chasing efficiency.
Planners want automation that removes repetitive work, flags anomalies, and supports decisions, not one that makes them obsolete. The question isn’t “Can AI replace forecasting?” but “How can AI make my planners more effective?”
That’s the kind of quiet revolution happening inside forward-thinking organizations, and it’s a shift Arkieva’s AI-driven platform is already supporting through autonomous agents and prescriptive analytics that work behind the scenes, not in place of people.
Theme 4: From Reactive Planning to Continuous Improvement
Another common refrain: “We’re good at responding, but not at improving.”
So many organizations are stuck in cycles of firefighting; reacting to disruption instead of learning from it.
At IBF Orlando, it was refreshing to hear more leaders talking about building planning maturity, not just stability. They want systems that learn, evolve and continuously adapt; ones that treat every plan, every exception, as an opportunity to refine the process.
That mindset is what separates the good from the great.
And it’s what Arkieva’s customers lean on our tools for: a consistent feedback loop between planning, execution and performance that never stops learning.
Where the Conversation Goes Next
As the final sessions wrapped up and planners headed for the airport, one thing felt clear: the biggest wins in planning don’t come from chasing buzzwords, they come from asking better questions.
- How connected are your planning processes, really?
- How quickly can your teams detect and act on change?
- Is your planning process working for you, or are you still working around it?
These are the kinds of conversations we love having, not just at IBF, but every day with leaders who want to do planning differently.
If you couldn’t meet us in Orlando, there’s always time to continue the dialogue. We’d love to compare notes, share what we’re seeing across industries, and explore what smarter S&OP could look like for your team.
